Combined ribbon spool and re-inker



Jan. 20, 1959 J w, BISHQP 2,869,706

COMBINED RIBBON SPOOL AND RE-INKER Filed Feb. 20, 1957 INVENTOR JOHN W. H. BISHOP AT ORNEYS.

United States Patent() COMBINED RIBBON SPOOL AND RE-INKER John W. H. Bishop, Essex, Conn.

Application February 20, 1957, Serial No. 641,305

Claims. (Cl. 197--171) The present invention relates to a combined ribbon spool and re-inker for use on typewriters, business machines, Teletypewriters, Teletype page printers and other high speed printers.

Ribbon re-inkers of many forms have been heretofore proposed, but for various reasons none have come into commercial use. approval of prior proposed devices may be mentioned: (1) they have been ineflicient or unreliable; (2) they required frequent refilling of ink reservoirs, with the concomitant uncleanliness to both the machine and the hands of the operator; and (3) they did not function to uniformly distribute the ink over the ribbon, with the result that the imprintings made thrugh the ribbon were not of uniform density.

Combined ribbon spools and. re-inkers have also been proposed in the past but in all such devices which have come to my attention, in addition to one or more of the reasons for lack of approval thereof set forth in the preceding paragraph, none of such spools provided a unitary device in which a single charge of ink would last for the useful life of the ribbon and thus completely overcome the necessity of refilling the ink reservoir.

It is an object of the present inventionto overcome the above described deficiencies and shortcomings in ribbon re-inkers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combined ribbon spool and re-inker, the ink supply of which will be suflicient to re-ink the ribbon throughout the use- .ful life thereof, after which the spool and re-inker may of large capacity which extends down into the hub of the spool, the wall of said hub being formed with one or more bleed openings above the bottom of the hub, an annulus of absorbent material engaging over the bleed opening or openings for receiving and applying ink to the ribbon from the innermost convolution thereof outwardly while the machine carrying the spool is in operation and wherein the ink in the receptacle may be sealed therein against leakage therefrom onto the ribbon when the combined spool and re-inker are stored in inverted position.

The invention and the novel combination of parts em bodied therein will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a diametrical section through a combined ribbon spool and re-inker embodying the invention. Fig. 2 shows a section taken along the planes of the broken line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the combined ribbon spool Among the reasons for such lack of reservoir 16. Preferably, the flange 11, which may be termed the upper flange, is formed at. its outeredge with an annular wall 17 extending axially outward relatively to -the ribbon channel 13 and which serves to greatly increase the volumetric capacity of the reservoir 16.

The hub 10 is preferably formed with an external annular groove 18 extending from the flange 12, which may be termed the lower flange, to approximately half the axial dimension of the hub, and the base of the annular groove is formed with one or more bleed openings 19 to provide for ink transfer from the reservoir 16 to an annulus of absorbent material 20 formed of felt or the like, Preferably, the annulus 20 is of a size to completely fill the external annular groove 18 and has a radial dimension larger than the depth of the annular groove so that the peripheral wall of the annulus will project slightly beyond the peripheral wall of the hub 10 and permit compression of the annulus and transfer of ink therefrom to the ribbon during operation of a machine upon which the ribbon is being used.

, The upper flange 11 is preferably formed integrally with the hub .10 and the annular wall 17, while the lower flange 12 may be conveniently formed asaseparate disc which may be secured to the closed bottom 14 of the hub in any desired manner, such, for example, by engaging over a shoulder 21 on said closed bottom andbeing held thereon by swaging portions of the closed bottom over said flange, as shown at 22.

Any suitable means may be provided on the spool for anchoring the end of a ribbon 13a thereto to facilitate winding such ribbon onto the spool and, as herein shown, said anchoring means is in the form of a tongue 23 having oppositely directed spear prongs. 24, which tongue may be struck up from the body of the lower flange 12 to lie in substantially contacting relation with the outer periphery ofthe annulus of absorbent material 20.

The bottom 14 of the hub is preferably force-fitted into the lower portion of thehollow hub 10 and is formed with a hollow, axial journal 25 closed at its top and provides a bearing for a spool-supporting shaft 26 on the machine, and with circumferentially spaced sockets 27 for engaging a driving pin 28 on the supporting shaft 26. The peripheral wall of the bottom 14 has an axial dimension substantially equal to the axial dimension of the annular groove 18 so that when force-fitted'into the hub it will provide adequate support for the ribbon which is wound under tension on the hub. It is apparent, however, that the axialdimension of the bottom 14 need not be greater than an axial distance above the flange 12 suflicient not to obturate the bleed opening 19. However, where in the construction as illustrated, the axial dimension of the peripheral wall is greater than the axial distance of the bleed opening 19 above the flange 12, it is apparent that means must be provided for permitting the ink from the reservoir 16 reaching the bleed opening. Accordingly, the upper face of the bottom 14 is formed with. an annular groove 29 extending downwardly below the bleed opening 19 and a circumferential slot 30 is formed in'theperipheral wall to establish ink communication between said annular groove 29 and the bleed opening 19.

Assembly.The combined ribbon spool and re-inker may be conveniently assembled by first securing the lower flange 12 on the hub bottom 14. The annulus of absorbent material 20 is then positioned over the bottom of the annular groove 18 and the hub bottom is then forcefitted into the hub so that the circumferential slot 30 will 'of'ink to the ribbon.

be in registry with the bleed opening 19. As the bleed opening is exceedingly small and may not be readily seen in positioning the parts for assembly, an index mark may be provided on theouter periphery of the upper portion of thehub 10 substantially diametrically .QPPoSite the bleed opening, which index will serve as a locating point Whereat the tongue 23 is to be positioned over the hub. The reservoir 16 may then be filled with ink and a closure cap 31 mounted over the annular wall 17. Where the ribbon spool and re-inker charged with ink is to 'be made and sold as a complete unit, leakage or absorption of ink from the reservoir by the annulus of absorbent material 20 may be prevented and the storage life of the unit prolonged indefinitely by forming in the side wall of the closure cap 31 a vent hole 32 for permitting escape of air during the force-fitting the cap onto said annular wall 17. When the vent hole overlies said wall and is obturated thereby, inverting the filled unit will bring the top surface of the ink in the reservoir below the bleed opening 19, yet prevent leakage of ink. I

Operati0n.-Wher e a single ribbon spool and re-inker is mounted on a machine, ink will be applied to the innermost convolution of the ribbon through the bleed opening 19 as the machine is operated and the ink, in turn, will be distributed through adjacent portions of the ribbon by capillary action and to successive overlying convolutions of the ribbon by surface contact. Where a single unit is employed it is preferable to have two bleed openings diametrically spaced apart to insure adequate supply It is preferable. however, to use similar ribbon spools and re-inkers at the opposite sides of the machine so that, when the ribbon is being paid oil by one spool and wound up on the other spool, one spool will be inking the innermost portion of the ribbon which is being wound thereon, while the other spool will be inking-the innermost convolution of the ribbon being paid off. In this manner ink will be supplied to each end of the ribbon and transferred therefrom to overlying convolutions of the ribbon so that adequate inking of the entire-length of the ribbon will be assured.

It will be noted that ink is supplied to the lower section only of the ribbon, which, in turn, is communicated to the upper portion thereof by capillary action, and in this manner it has been found that there is never an excess of ink at the portion of the ribbon at which imprinting takes place and the imprints, therefore, are of substantially uniform density. Where two similar spools are employed, it has been found that a single bleed opening having a diameter of about .015 of an inch is sufficient to adequately supply the re-inking requirements of the ribbon.

It has also been found that with devices of the character described and using a nylon ribbon of approximately 12 yards in length, that a Teletype page printer may be continuously operated for approximately three months at the end of which period the ribbon will have become so worn as to have served its useful life and also the ink supply from the reservoir will then be substantially used up, so that the spools and the ribbon may be discarded. It will thus be realized that a considerable saving in time and trouble, as well as producing imprinting of substantially uniform density, is thus achieved. 7

Although there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of the combined ribbon spool and re-inker, it is to be understood that changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts and sizes thereof may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the character described, comprising a ribbon spool includng a hollow hub and a pair of axially spaced flanges extendng outwardly from the hub providing a ribbon receiving channel, the hub being closed at its bottom and open at its top and having a bleed opening through its side wall, an annulus of absorbent material engaging over the bleed opening in contact with the periphery of the hub' and an annular wall extending upwardly beyond the upper flange and providing with the hollow hub an ink reservoir.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the annular wall which extends upwardly beyond the upper flange has a diameter greater than that of the hub.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the annular wall which extends upwardly beyond the upper flange is at substantially the periphery of said upper flange.

4. A de.ic e according to claim 1, wherein the wall of the hub, the upper flange and the annular wall are formed of a single piece of materfal.

5. A d;vice according to claim 1, wherein a closure member covers the open end of the reservoir.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a ribbon spool including a hoilow cylindrical hub and upper and lower axially spaced flanges extending outward ly from the hub providing a ribbonreceiving channel, the hub having a closed bottom to provide an ink reservoir, the peripheral wall of the hub being formed with an external annular groove extending from the lower flange to approximately half the axial dimension of the ribbon channel and having a bleed opening through the base of the annular groove, an annulus of absorbent material seated in said groove, said annulus being of somewhat larger radial dimension than the depth of the annular groove, and means within said channel overlying the periphery of the hub for anchoring the end of a ribbon to permit said ribbon to be wound on the spool in contact with the periphery of the annulus of absorbent material. 7

7. A device according to claim 6, wherein the closed bottom of the hub is forced-fitted into the peripheral wall of the hub.

8. A device according to claim 6, wherein the means for anchoring the ribbon is a tongue struck up from the lower flange and bent up over the periphery of the annulus of absorbent material. I

9. A device according to claim 8, wherein the tongue is located substantially diametrically opposite the bleed opening.

10. A device of the character described, comprising a hollow closed bottom ink receptable having upper and lower axially spaced flanges extending outwardly from the receptacle providing a ribbon guide channel, the peripheral wall of the receptacle being formed withan external annular groove extending from the lower flange to approximately half the axial dimension of the ribbon guide channel and having a bleed opening through the base of the annular groove and an annulus of absorbent material seated in said groove, said annulus being of somewhat larger radial dimension than the depth of the annular groove but of less radial dimension than the flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

